J.A. Jance: 'Libraries are places to find respite.'

On her website, best-selling author J.A. Jance writes, "As a second-grader in Mrs. Spangler’s Greenway School class, I was introduced to Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz series. I read the first one and was hooked and knew, from that moment on, that I wanted to be a writer."

A big part of her development involved libraries, especially school libraries, as she describes in this interview. 

"I spent most of my 8th grade in the library," she says, remembering how she dragged her Radio Flyer wagon during the summer to school to gather her week's supply of books.

It wasn't until she was nearly 40 that she began writing, embarking on a hugely successful career of mystery novels featuring such enduring characters as Arizona county sheriff Joanna Brady and retired Seattle Police Department officer J. P. Beaumont.  The most recent in the J.P.Beaumont series is A Betrayal of Trust.

She says she has used the library for research, recalling how 70 interlibrary loans made it possible for her to finish one book.

She also speaks fondly and philosophically of libraries, saying, "Libraries are places where people who are struggling can go to find respite."